Activity definition form

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Activity definition form

    The Activity Definition form enables ServiceNow customers to report and visualize specific steps within their business processes using process graphs. It allows you to define which data fields and values to mine from records, providing detailed insights into process changes and transitions.

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    Key Features

    • Field: Select the specific field or column from a table whose data you want to display in the process graph.
    • Type: Choose the type of values to mine, including:
      • Field Values (default): Standard field data.
      • Date Time: Uses date-time from actual records for grouped nodes.
      • Compound: Represents changes in multiple field values as one node.
      • Child Attached / Parent Attached: Visualize parent-child relationships in processes by showing when child or parent records are attached.
    • Display Name: Optionally specify a user-friendly name for the activity shown in the visualization; defaults to the field name if left blank.
    • Choose Activity Values: Allows mining of specific values within a field, such as filtering incidents by specific assignment groups.
    • Group Activities: Combines multiple sequential changes of a field into a single change event on the process map, simplifying visualization. Without grouping, each change is shown separately.
    • Grouped Activities Name: Customize the name displayed for grouped changes in the visualization.
    • Activity of Interest: Controls whether field changes appear in the analyst workbench. Selected activities do not appear in the workbench but remain usable in contextual conditions.
    • Include Empty Start Node: Adds an empty node to the process graph when the selected field is empty upon record creation, ensuring accurate process start visualization.

    Practical Use for ServiceNow Customers

    By configuring the Activity Definition form, you can tailor process maps to reflect meaningful changes in your business workflows, focus on specific field values, and simplify complex change histories. This improves your ability to analyze and optimize processes, identify key transitions, and support decision-making with clear, customizable visualizations.

    Use the Activity Definition form to report on steps that occur within your business process.

    Table 1. Activity Definition form
    Field Specify the field or column from the table whose data you want to view in the process graph.
    Type The type of values you want to mine.

    You have the following values:

    • Field Values (Default): This is the default selection. This option is available whenever you create an activity definition.
    • Date Time: Uses date time value from the actual record rather than the audit history and is displayed as a grouped node on the process map.
    • Compound: One node or process graph representing change in the multiple field value from the actual record rather than the audit history.
    • Child Attached: This option is available when you have selected two tables for table configuration and have set a child-parent relationship. This option is available only for the parent table configuration. In the visualization, you will see when the child was attached in the process.
    • Parent Attached: This option creates a node on the child process representing when a parent record was attached to a child.
    Display Name (Optional) Name to display for this activity. If no name is entered, the activity name displays the value provided for Field.
    Choose activity values

    You can choose to mine specific activity values for the selected field.
    Activity values

    This field is available only if you select the Choose activity values field.

    This field provides a list of values for the selected field that you want to mine.

    For example, you have chosen the Incident table. Now, you want to see records that went through Assignment group Service Desk and Assignment group Database. To see this data, you must select Assignment group as the Field and add Service Desk and Database from List of values.
    Group activities If you select to group activities, the process map reflects the group of changes for the activity as one change item. For example, suppose you configure Assignment group to report on and select group activities.
    • Changes to assignment group occur and list in the audit log as: Group A > Group B > Group C.
    • Result: The data in the process map reflects as one change: 'Assignment group changed'.
    If this option is not checked, the process map reflects records of each instance of change individually. Example: You configure Assignment group to report on, but don't select to group activities.
    • Changes to assignment group occur and list in the audit log as: Group A > Group B > Group C.
    • Result: The process map reflects each individual change made, continuing to reflect the changes as is standard from the audit log: 'Change: Group A > Change: Group B > Change: Group C'.
    Figure 1. Changes are grouped
    Show changes as group
    Figure 2. Changes shown as standard
    Changes shown as standard
    Grouped Activities name Auto-generated name for grouped activities, or you can enter a different name for changes to the field that will reflect in the visualization.
    Note:
    This field is only available when the Group activities field is selected.
    Activity of Interest Whether field changes appear in the analyst workbench.
    Note:
    When this option is selected, field changes don’t appear in the analyst workbench, but can still be used in contextual conditions in transitions or findings.
    Include empty start node Includes an empty node on the process graph when the selected activity definition field is empty at the time of record creation.